Diary of a Pixel Artist
by TakuikaNinja
Summary: My first Splatoon fanfic. Originally on Amino but it's been edited and uploaded here as well. Amino Wiki for this fanfic: /c/splatoon/page/item/diary-of-a-pixel-artist-page-hub/eYeS 6IblWrwdlGo5BrdY1K7a36V6MW
1. Prologue

October 12th, Thursday

-"Every day's a difficult day when you're born on Friday the 13th." That's how I would describe my bad luck to my friends if I had any.

-Look, I gave up on being normal. Everyone just doesn't care about my existence. I tried everything to become normal, but it either backfired or went unnoticed because of my luck.

-I know that's not the best way to start a diary. But who cares? It's not like someone other than me is reading this.

-Well, I better introduce myself. I'm TakuikaNinja. I would prefer to be called "Taku" because everyone somehow mispronounces Asian names in the craziest ways. If only my Japanese mum gave me a better name... Anyway, I moved into an apartment near Inkopolis square a couple months ago.

-I was born and raised in New Zealand, a small country near Australia. No one seems to care about its existence as well.

-The only good thing about not being noticed is that I can focus on the things I want to do without interruptions, which is why I'm a pixel artist. I mostly draw GameBoy style art, but I keep running out of ideas (I guess that's common to any artist).

-You're probably wondering why I'm writing this diary. Well, it's to clear up my mind. You see, nerds like me have a lot of thoughts going on in our heads, and we write them down so we don't forget about them.

The other reason is so I can link current events with a past event. Who knows if something tiny would cause a major disaster?

-I guess I wrote enough stuff about myself. I should start writing what happened today. It's going to be pretty short since I don't have much room left.

-There was a food festival in Inkopolis square today. Apparently, it was organised by Grizzco(I'm a profreshional there) and it's their new method of promoting their business. I think it was a good idea. There were all sorts of food; Burgers, shwaffles, pizza, you name it. I wasn't too hungry, so I only had my favourite food, French toast. It was brilliant! It had the perfect softness and sweetness; It was just great! I felt like eating more, but I know my limits.

Everyone else was a different story. They kept on eating as if their minds were controlled by something. Is it just me or that normies are weirder than me?

-It was almost 10 pm by the time I got home. I got some drinks from the fridge and turned my PC on to draw some pixel art. As I did so, I noticed that tomorrow was Friday the 13th. I started to think about what to draw, with the uneasy feeling of having really bad luck the next day.


	2. Chapter 1

Splatober 13th, Friday

-You definitely noticed I'm calling this month Splatober compared to yesterday. It's because of what happened this morning.

Me: *Wakes up* "Damn it! I must've fallen asleep while thinking of ideas for pixel art!"

-I then opened the curtains and the window to get some fresh air, and that's when I realised something was horribly wrong.

Me *In Japanese*: "What?"

-Everyone that was at yesterday's food festival was still there. Except, they were biting each other. They were hungry for blood! My worst nightmare had come true, literally. I remember having one last year. I'll write down what it was like.

-So I find myself in an old looking apartment. Thinking about it now, it was similar to the apartment I'm in right now. Anyway, I notice a black figure walking towards me. I scramble to the wall in fear. Then the figure told me: "On Splatober 13th, you're going to die being eaten by complete strangers." I didn't understand what it meant at that time, but I was frightened for days after that. What is Splatober? Why would I get eaten? So many questions circled my head as I tried to forget about it. Today IS that day. Splatober 13th. The unluckiest day of the year.

Me: "I can't die like this!"

-I closed and locked all the doors and windows in my room. Then I lied on my bed and thought about what to do.

Me: "The food. Someone must've tampered with it! I'm not like them because I didn't eat as much yesterday!" I knew exactly what to do in order to survive.

*A few minutes later*

-It was horrible having stuff come out the other way, but I had to. Knowing that I'll survive made me feel better.

As I was getting a drink from the fridge, I felt something tiny bite my tongue.

Me: "OW!"

-I rushed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I noticed something moving in my mouth. Horrified, I grabbed it with my fingers and put it in a petri dish that I still had from school (I don't remember bringing that to Inkopolis!).

-Cymothoa exigua. That's what I found out it was after some research. Also known as "The tongue-eating louse", these parasites enter fish's mouths via their gills and suck the blood out of their tongues until they fall off. Then it replaces the fish's tongue until it dies. It's the ocean's equivalent of a vampire. However, the one I found seems to be mutated. It had sharp teeth, and its head was much bigger. A few of these would be able to mind-control an inkling, assuming their brains are bigger than before.

-So this is my guess on what happened yesterday. First, someone put a bunch of the mutated C. exiguas' eggs in the food. Since the food was so great, most squids ended up with a good few of them in their mouths. The eggs hatch; The parasites start sucking the blood out of their tongues and mind-control their hosts to bite others in order to lay more eggs; And so everyone gets infected.

-Almost everyone, that is. I only had one parasite in my mouth, and that was not enough to infect me.

-So who did such a horrible thing? I was thinking about it for the whole day, but I have no idea.


	3. Chapter 2

Splatober 14th, Saturday

-I just realised I should write this diary in more detail from now on, in case another survivor finds it without me. (I'll try, but I doubt it'll work.) Anyway, I was staying up doing some experiments on that parasite I found yesterday to find its weakness. I tried putting it in various acids and bases, but none of them seemed to do anything. I guess the people who mutated them did a really good job at it. There was no hope of fixing the situation, I thought.

Me: "I might as well try to get to Grizzco. and look for any survivers."

-It was a better idea than doing nothing in my apartment, so I packed my gear and a few cans of fruit salad, then headed for Grizzco. at 3:00 am (I stay up pretty late, don't I?). All of the vampire squids (I decided to call the infected ones that) were asleep. I didn't know why they were, but I knew this would be my only chance. It was so quiet, the only thing I heard was everyone's breathing. I carefully tiptoed towards Grizzco., making sure not to step on anyone.

-That's when I screwed up. I failed to notice one of them was still awake; It let out a loud hissing noise and jumped onto me. Its eyes were white and I could clearly see the parasites on its tongue. The sudden noise woke up everyone.

Me: "Run."

-Everyone started to chase me. I mindlessly jumped over a bench and rushed towards the entrance of Grizzco., lowering the shutter behind me. I sighed in relief and decided to have a look around. The whole place was empty; No one to be found.

Me: "Seriously!? Is no one here? I shouldn't have bothered to come here in the first place."

?: "Did you forget about me?"

-A familiar voice came from the bear shaped radio.

Me: Mr. Grizz! I'm SO sorry I forgot!"

Mr. Grizz: "Don't worry, I'm not mad about it."

Me: "Is it OK if I stay here 'til tomorrow morning?"

Mr. Grizz: "I'm totally fine with that, but why are you here this early?"

Me: *Explains what happened*

Mr. Grizz: "That's a huge problem, then... If whoever did this is my employee, I gotta fire 'em."

Me: "Is there anyone you think would do this?"

Mr. Grizz: "There's this one squid I'm suspecting. He always works alone, and I once heard him calling someone on his phone talking about 'The plan'."

Me: "What's his name?"

There was a long pause.

Mr. Grizz: "Mike."


	4. Chapter 3

Splatober 15th, Sunday

-Mike. I finally know who's responsible for what happened on Friday the 13th. Since I'm too lazy to look for him, I'll have him come to me instead. I called him on the phone (It's compulsory at Grizzco. to provide your phone number, so I asked Mr Grizz for Mike's number) and parodied the famous line from "Taken". He seemed pissed about the fact someone foiled his 'Plan', so he's going to look for me soon. I thanked Mr Grizz for his help and went to a nearby park, remembering to leave via the back door, unlike yesterday.

-I had just finished my last can of fruit salad when I heard footsteps behind me. I quickly grabbed my jet squelcher and fired at whoever was sneaking up on me. The shots were a direct hit to his face, and he was knocked out. He had black hair, and he was holding a frying pan in his hand like the salmonids I fight in my job.

Me: "I thought you would use a yo-yo instead of the cliché frying pan, Mike."

-I took him to my apartment to ask him some questions.

Mike: *Wakes up* "Where am I?"

Me: "My apartment. Anyway, looking from the colour of your hair, I assume you work for the octarians. Correct?"

Mike: "Yup."

Me: "So you were planning to make everyone in Inkopolis your slaves by using those parasites?"

Mike: "You're really good at guessing these."

Me: "It's called 'Using common sense'."

Mike: "You done with the questions?"

Me: "Just one more. What made you work for them?"

Mike: *Pauses* "No one ever cares about my existence; the only people that do are the octolings, and they respect me."

-I slapped him in the face as hard as I can. I felt I needed to do so.

Mike: "What's wrong with you!?"

Me: "What's wrong with YOU!? 'Oh, I want to be noticed by everyone.' That's called being a shellfish! No one cares about MY existence, but I'm totally fine with it. Don't you realise you're being USED by them!? Snap out of it!" I slapped him once more.

Mike: "STOP! I get it! I'm sorry!"

Me: "If you understand it, good. So, you wanna kick octoling butt and turn everyone back to normal? I'll be your friend if you do."

Mike: "You're not going to tell anyone about what I did?"

Me: "Of course not."

Mike: "Then I'm in."

Me: "Cool. Btw, what weapon do you use?"

Mike: "I main the N-ZAP."

I handed him a spare one I had.

Me: "I better explain the plan, then. Basically, I'll distract the guards with a firefight. Then, you sneak into their base and look for a way to remove those parasites. Once you find it, ambush the guards from the back. Got it?"

Mike: "Got it."

Me: "Then let's go!"

-Thanks to Mike, we managed to get to the octoling base before 3:00 pm. The kettle (Entrance) to it was in Octo Canyon (You know, the other side of that manhole in Inkopolis Square).

Me: "This is the first time I've been here."

Mike: "And the last we'll ever be, hopefully."

Me: "Don't worry, consider yourself lucky to have an S+ player on your side."

Mike: "Thanks."

-We went on with our plan. I deliberately got noticed by a guard and started a firefight, while Mike sneaked into their base. The octolings were weaker (AND dumber) than I thought. They kept their heads out long enough for me to splat them, and they NEVER thought of flanking me. Oh, DON'T EVEN ask me about their aim. I was thinking the whole time, "Aren't they supposed to be smarter than us!?". Maybe they never expected an S+.

I started to wonder how Mike was doing. We DID have a walkie-talkie, so I called him.

Me: "Mike! You there? Over."

Mike: "Yup! I got what we need! Over."

Me: "Good, Now ambush 'em from behind! Over."

Mike: "Roger."

Soon enough, Mike barged through and splatted the remaining octolings.

Me: "Nice one!"

Mike: "I found a time bomb in the base, so how 'bout we use it?"

Me: "How long's the fuse?"

Mike: "20 seconds."

Me: "Then let's set it and run!"

Mike set the bomb next to a pile of gas canisters, and we ran for our lives.

-We managed to get out of the kettle before the bomb exploded. The whole kettle was shattered from the impact.

Me: "That was close!"

Mike: "It sure was!"

Me: "So, how are we going to remove the parasites?"

Mike: "About that..."

Mike reached into his bag and took out two spray-cans. The labels read, "Be gone, snakes!"

Me: "Are you sure you got the right thing?"

Mike: "Well, I found out they had snake DNA injected into them, so snake repellent WILL work!"

Me: "No wonder the vampire squids hissed at me when they attacked."

Mike: "Did they?"

Me: "Yup, they sure did! Now, how 'bout we go spray some 'Snakes'?"

Mike: "Heck yeah!"

-And so, everyone in Inkopolis was returned to normal. They didn't seem to remember (Or care) about what happened since Friday the 13th; Which is totally fine for me, since I'm not the kind of squid that brags a lot. Besides, I found a new friend for once.

Me: "How do you like being my friend, Mike?"

Mike: "You consider me a friend? It's the best day of my life!"

Me: "Same with me. By the way, you have somewhere to stay?"

Mike: "No…"

Me: "I have a spare room in my apartment, so I guess you can be my roommate."

Mike: "REALLY!? Thanks a lot!"

Me: "No problem."

-We got home just in time to see the sunset.

Mike: "Gee, it's so beautiful!"

Me: "Don't you think? It's almost as if it's rewarding us for what we've done."

Mike: "So, what are going to do tonight?"

Me: "Let's order some pizza and play games, then!"

-We had the best night of our lives that night.


	5. Epilogue

November 30th, Thursday

-A few things have changed since the last time I wrote this diary. I'll list them down to explain them better.

1\. I began brewing ginger beer to save money spent on drinks.

2\. I draw pixel art less often now, thanks to Mike distracting me almost every day.

3\. I now make videos as an extra hobby (I don't upload them to SquidTube, but rather to a Japanese video site)

4\. Mike recently told me he'd been learning Japanese since when he came to Inkopolis Square 2 years ago. Not very surprising to me since I've heard him yell in Japanese while he's gaming before. (I'm still writing our conversations in English, just to make it easy to read later.)

-You're definitely wondering if Mike got punished for what he'd done in October. To be honest, the only thing close to that was that he got a pay cut from Grizzco (I guess Mr Grizz had forgiven him for some reason). What a lucky squid. Oh well, I'll just get to the stuff that happened today.

-The sun shined in the midday sky as Mike and I were heading back home from a session of league matches. We got a decent ranking of 5th place, so I won't say it was bad.

Mike: "Taku?"

Me: "What is it?"

Mike: "Why do you wear a snorkel?"

-I went silent for a bit.

Me: "I just like it."

Mike: "Oh come on. You're hiding something, aren't you?"

Me: "I'm not. Why do you still wear a basic tee, then?"

Mike: "Because I like it." *Realisation*

-That was a close one, to be honest.

-Later that day, we got home to find a large parcel at the door.

Me: "Did you order something, Mike?"

Mike: "No... You?"

Me: "Why would I be asking you, then?"

-We opened the box. Inside was a heap of lemons; A kilogram to be exact.

Me: "Talk about when life gives you lemons."

(Roll credits! Just kidding.)

-We had a closer look at the box to see who sent it, but there were no labels saying that. It reminds me of a certain episode of an anime I started watching recently. I decided to check each lemon just in case they were tampered with. (Ever since October, I don't feel comfortable about receiving food/gifts. Thanks a lot, Mike!)

-The lemons were not tampered with, which was a relief. But there were too many lemons to use for ginger beer, so I wasn't sure what to do.

Me: "What are we going to do with these?"

Mike: "I dunno. How about we make lemonade and sell it?"

Me: "I agree with making it, but selling it would require too much effort."

Mike: "It's really fun, you know? You should try it!"

Me: *Sigh* "OK, fine..."

-And so we made a stand in Inkopolis Square and sold lemonade for the rest of the day.


End file.
